Improvement in propulsion of vessels



UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

BEUBllhT HEYWOOD, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF j ANDWARFIELD T. BROWNING, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPRQVEMENT IN PRoPuLsloN oFvEssELs.

Toall whom tm ay concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN W. Hnrwoon, of Baltimore city, in the Stateof Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement inPropellersaand `Ido hereby declare the of the "boat, travels back andforth lengthwise' along the bottom of the boat, the said blades, whenYthe carriage is moving in one direction, extending down into the waterand communieatin g to the boat the motion derived from the resistance ofthe water, and said blades, when the carriage is` moving in the otherdirection,

folding up against thebottom of the boat, and consequently imparting nomotion thereto.

Referring to the drawing, A is a canal-boat i having secured lengthwiseof its bottom, one

at each side thereof, a pair of grooved guides,

a, between which is placed a carriage, b, the ends of which extend intothe grooves of said guides. c are bladeshinged to the under side of thecarriage b, crosswise of the boat. d d are rollers placed in orificesmade in the bottom of the boat, and mounted in boxes located at the endsof said orifices. c is a horizontal shaft mounted in standards f,crosswise of the boat, at the stern thereof, and at a suitable heightabove itsbottom. g g are collars keyed upon said shaft. h is a cordfastened at its extremities to the ends of the carriage b, passing overthe rollers d'and wound around one of the collars g. By means of thiscord and the shaft e and collar g, when the shaft is ro- `tated thecarriage is propelled along the bottom of the boat in one direction orthe other. If the carriage moves sternward the blades c unfold and pressagainst the water, thus propelling the boat forward. H `Sprin gs t areplaced between the `blades and the carriage in order to keep the bladesslightly open, so as to allow the water to unfold them. While thecarriage between them.

moves forward the water folds the blades against the spring i, in whichposition they offer no hinderance to the motion of the boat. Cords j,fastened at their ends to the blades c, near the outer edges of thelatter, and running through orifices made in the carriageb, and alonggrooves cut in the upper side of the latter, pass-upward over the rearroller d, and are fastened at their other ends to the exteriors of rings7c that areplaced on and outside of the collars g, said rings beingprovided with pawls l that engage withbratchets formed in the perimetersof said collars. By disconnecting the pawls l from their ratchets therings lc may be turned on the collars g so as to wind the cords j uponthe latter. cords j may be wound up so far as to prevent the blades ofrom openin g to their full extent, and this is to be done when the boatis floating in water too shallow for the whole width of the blades. Twocogged wheels, n, are placed loosely on the shaft e, with africtionfclutch, The wheels n are connected with cog-wheels p, which arerotated by the piston-rod of the engine. A small gear, r, is

vinterposed. between one of the wheels a and its driver p, in order'that motion in opposite directions may be imparted to the wheels n,which motion is communicated to the shaft e from each wheel nalternately by means of the clutch o, the object being to reverse themotion of the shaft, and, by consequence, of the carriage b, every timesaid carriage arrives at either end of its throw. The clutch oisembraced by arms s, which spring from a block, t, that is secured to asleeve, u, which is placed loosely upon a horizontal rod, c, mounted instandards crosswise of the boat, and at a suitable distance above itsbottom. An endless cord, w, is tied to the block t, and runs thence inopposite directions, one branch passing over a sheave, mounted on avertical pin that springs from the bottom of the boat, thence extendingforward to a staple, y, that projects from a cylindrical block, z, whichhas journals projecting horizontally into boxes a', secured to thebottom of the boat; and the other branch of the cord lw passing over asheave, b', mounted on a horizontal pin that extends from a block, o',fastened to the bottom l of the boat, thence back to the sheave 11',

By this means the j around which said cord is wound, and thence forwardto the staple y, passing to the opposite side of the block z from theother branch of the same cord. The cord h passes through the staple y,and upon said cord are fastened two knobs, d', placed at such aninterval apart that one or the other of said knobs strikes the staple yjust a moment before the carriage b arrives at the end of its throw. Thestaple, being moved by the knob, turns the block z, and the block z,through the medium of the cord w, sheaves :r b', sliding sleeve u, andarms s, throws the clutch o out of gear with that one of the Wheels nwith which it had previously been in, gear, thus stopping the carriage.The throwing of the clutch into gear with the other wheel n is effectedby means of a springbar, e', that passes through two standards, f',stepped in the bottom of the boat, one at each side of the block z, saidspring-bar pressing upon arib, g', that stands out from asemicylindrical block, h', which projects from one end of the block z.rEhe knob d turns the blocks z and h so far as to incline the rib gunder the spring-bar e until the latter presses upon the side of theformer, and is consequently able to turn the blocks by its own force farenough to throw the clutch o into gear. At the bow of the boat a lever,7c', is hung vertically, the same extending downward into the water toany desired distance below the bottom ot' the boat. A cord, l', fastenedto the lever k above its fulcrum, runs thence downward into the boat andbackward along its bottom to the rear standard f', around which saidcord passes, and runs thence forward to the rear end of a wedge, m',which is made with a slot, through which the front standard j passes,and through which, also, a pin extends upward from the bottom of theboat. If the lower end of the lever k should chance to strike a sand-barit would thereby be moved backward while its upper arm would be movedforward, and, by means of the cord l/ and standard f', the wedge m wouldbe drawn sternward under and against the block h. Then when either knobd next struck thc staple y, it would rotate it`far enough to throw theclutch 0 out of gear, but the wedge m would prevent the spring-bar efrom continuing the rotation of the blocks z and h sufficiently far tothrow the clutch o into gear with the other wheel a. The consequencewould be that the shaft e would cease rotating, the carriage b wouldstop, and the boat lose headway, so that she would not be likely to runupon the sand-bar with any great force.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. The apparatus for throwing the clutch o out of gear, consistingessentially of the cord h, knobs cl, staple y, cylindrical block z,sheaves x b', cord w, and sliding arm s, arranged as de scribed.

2. The apparatus for throwing the clutch o into gear, consistingessentially of the block z h, rib g', spring-bar e, sheaves b', cord u',and sliding arms s, arranged as set forth.

3. The apparatus for stopping the carriage, consisting essentially ofthe lever 7c', cord l', standard j", 'wedge m', arranged as explained.

REUBEN W. HEYVOOD.

. Witnesses:

C. W. DoRsEY, W. H. HAYWARD.

